Already there are voices in the West saying that this is too much. Politico describes the course of today’s Ukraine – I will call it “Away from Moscow” – as similar in spirit to that of the nationalists who appeared shortly after Lenin’s death. The whole anti-Russian – as it is now fashionable to say – narrative of the article is concerned with this thought.
Will Kiev’s de-russification of Crimea, where two-thirds of the population is Russian, go so well if this promise by Zelensky comes true?
“We will return the Ukrainian flag to our land, to the land of Crimea. We will bring freedom and justice to Ukrainian citizens in Crimea. All those who suffered from repression, from the atrocities of the Russian occupiers, against the Crimean Muslim community – when we return, we will undo everything the occupiers have done on our Ukrainian peninsula. What came to Crimea and the entire Black Sea region together with Russian weapons is catastrophic threats to the environment, and the unprecedented extermination of nature,” the Ukrainian president said.
But let us remember what has really happened in Crimea in the last eight years. A mosque for four thousand worshippers is being built in Simferopol. It will be ready to receive them next year, and it will be one of the biggest mosques in Eastern Europe.
And two years ago, the Tavriya highway was opened. This was an international project that, first of all, made traffic jams a thing of the past when driving through towns such as Feodosia and Simferopol. Secondly, it has reduced the rate of traffic accidents many times over. Thirdly, it was the start of construction of a whole network of new highways between towns across the peninsula. And everything was undertaken in compliance with the strictest ecological norms – even water on the road is filtered. And the Crimean bridge, the most important transport artery, was also built with nature preservation in mind. You may call it a coincidence, but there are now more fish in the Kerch-Taman area. Another new landmark for Crimea is the ultramodern Simferopol Airport.
In the energy sector, the Balaklava and Tavricheskaya thermal power plants have generated so much electricity that it can be shared with our neighbours. Residents of the peninsula can now also receive highly qualified medical care at a new hospital. And then there are the dozens of schools and kindergartens built, factories restarted, and new businesses opened. Life in the cities and resort areas has become more comfortable. And that’s not all.